Chapter 194: 194 | The Consequences of Competence

She walked back to her lectern. The shift was jarring. The cold-eyed veteran disappeared, replaced by the animated professor persona as if someone had flipped a switch.

"Now! Where was I?" Her voice had all its warmth back, the musical lilt fully restored. "Ah yes, Nested Gates! These nasty little puzzles are why you should always bring a hunter with spatial awareness abilities. Or at least someone who can map coherently. I once spent four hours going in circles because our navigator insisted he could ’feel’ the exit. Spoiler: he could not."

She gestured to the projection behind her, which shifted to show a diagram of gates within gates, layers of dimensional fractures stacked like Russian dolls.

Belle’s whisper was barely audible. "Holy shit, I thought she was going to murder that kid."

"She still might," Jordan murmured back, not looking up from his notes. "After class. When there are fewer witnesses."

I kept my eyes on Dr. Cross. The transformation from bubbly professor to cold-eyed veteran had been too smooth. Too practiced. She was wearing a mask, the same way I was. A specific version of herself presented depending on what the situation required, tailored to the audience and the goal. It made me curious. What did she look like when all the masks came off? When she wasn’t performing for a classroom full of first-years or demonstrating hard truths to cocky kids?

The lecture continued. Around me, the atmosphere had changed completely. Students sat straighter, no longer slouching in their seats. Pens moved faster across notebooks. No one dared so much as glance at their phones. Even Charles had his jaw clamped shut, his earlier bravado nowhere in sight.

Dr. Cross had made her point without raising her voice or issuing threats. She’d simply shown us a glimpse of the reality beneath the academy’s polished surface.

As she detailed the warning signs of gate collapse, I found myself thinking about the Reaper we’d faced. How close we’d come to death. How my emergency essence bottle had been the only thing standing between us and oblivion.

It wasn’t luck, in my case. It was preparation. But did that matter? Would preparation be enough when we faced something even stronger?

The lecture ended with Dr. Cross assigning reading from three different textbooks.

"And remember," she said cheerfully, as if the earlier moment had never happened, "next week we’re covering gate emergency protocols! Very exciting stuff involving blood loss, limb amputation, and the proper way to seal a dimensional wound with common household items!"

As we filed out of the lecture hall, Naomi sidled up beside me.

"That was intense," she whispered. "Did you see her eyes when she got angry? They turned almost black." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Yeah." I glanced back at Dr. Cross, who was packing up her materials. "Remind me never to piss her—" I stopped as Dr. Cross looked our way.

She winked at me.

Actually winked.

"See you next week, Mr. Monroe. Try not to get killed in a gate before then. I’d hate to lose my most... physically improved student."

I felt my face heat up. "Yes, ma’am."

Belle’s laughter followed me all the way out the door and into the hallway.

"She’s totally into you," she whispered as we headed toward our next class.

"She is not."

"Did you see that wink? The way she checked out your ass when you stood up?"

"Stop it."

"I’m just saying, if you’re looking to expand your milk operation—"

"Belle!"

She laughed again, linking her arm through mine. "Relax! I’m kidding. Mostly."

Naomi appeared on my other side, her pink eyes narrowed. "Don’t you dare add her to the rotation."

"There’s no rotation! And I’m not adding anyone!"

"Good." Naomi nodded firmly. "We’re at capacity."

"What does that even mean?" I asked, exasperated.

She patted my arm condescendingly. "It means three is perfect. Four would be complicated."

"Since when do you two agree on anything?" I looked between them.

"Since we decided the milk vampire needs management," Belle said sweetly. "We have a system."

I glanced at Jordan, hoping for support. He just shrugged.

"Don’t look at me. I just shoot things and try to ignore whatever weird harem anime you’re living in."

I sighed. "My life is not a harem anime."

All four of them stared at me silently, their expressions ranging from amused to pitying.

"What?"

"Nothing," Belle finally said. "We have combat class in ten minutes. We should hurry."

As we walked across campus, I couldn’t help but reflect on Dr. Cross’s warning. Gates weren’t games. They weren’t simulations. They were deathtraps that had killed hunters far more experienced than us.

Yet here I was, treating my abilities like some kind of dating strategy, collecting girls while trying not to think about the ticking clock on my life.

Was I any better than that overconfident kid in class?

Maybe not.

But unlike him, I knew exactly how close to death I’d come. I’d felt my ribs crack under the Reaper’s grip. I’d tasted my own blood as it squeezed.

And I’d survived.

Not because of luck. Not because of skill.

But because I’d drunk Naomi’s milk from a bottle and temporarily boosted my power beyond what should have been possible.

Dr. Cross was right about one thing – the gates didn’t care about your confidence. They didn’t care about your training. They were cosmic meat grinders waiting for the smallest mistake.

I needed to get stronger. Much stronger. And I needed to do it fast.

Because the next time we faced a Silver boss, I might not have an essence bottle ready.

"Earth to Jace," Belle waved her hand in front of my face. "You still in there?"

I blinked. "Yeah, just thinking."

"About?"

"About how much training we need to do before Wednesday’s gate." I looked at each of them in turn. "No more taking chances. We train like our lives depend on it."

"Our lives do depend on it," Jordan said dryly.

"Exactly." I nodded.

"So no complaining when Misato pushes us harder than Garrett does."